The House Speaker is facing renewed criticism of his leadership from his colleagues after losing two votes in the Republican-controlled House in the same day.
Speaker Mike Johnson is facing increased difficulty leading the House of Representatives, after losing two votes in one night on Tuesday and facing public challenges from members of his own party.
His attempt to impeach the Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas over the immigration situation at the southern border fell narrowly short, despite Republicans holding a majority in the House.
Then, a GOP-led bill to send further American aid to Israel—seen as an alternative to a bipartisan effort in the Senate that would also provide funding for Ukraine and immigration controls—was shot down by bipartisan opposition.
The latest failures presided over by Johnson have raised questions of whether his party would seek to oust him as they did with his predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, last year. Johnson only became Speaker a little over three months ago, after House Republicans struggled to agree on who should take up the office.
Following the votes, Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie said getting rid of McCarthy „has officially turned into an unmitigated disaster,“ while challenging others to „name one thing that’s improved under the new Speaker.“
In January, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene—who Johnson charged with leading the impeachment—told Politico she was unsure whether the Speaker was safe, adding that the „only reason he’s Speaker is because our conference is so desperate,“ while House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik said the caucus was „sucking wind“ under his stewardship.
However, others have suggested that Johnson was likely to remain Speaker until at least the election in November, the results of which would be used to judge whether he should remain in the post.
